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Monday, 15 November 2010

West can never defeat al-Qaeda, admits Brit General He also said that the
threat posed by 'al-Qaeda and its affiliates' meant Britain''s national
security would be at risk for at least 30 years, adding that the West''s war
was akin to fighting Nazis. CJ: Vikram Kamble Sun, Nov 14, 2010
11:07:49 IST Views: 442 Comments: 0 Rate: 1 out of 5 2 out of 5 3
out of 5 4 out of 5 5 out of 5 0.0 / 0 votes THE NEW head
of Britain''s armed forces, General Sir David Richards, has warned that the
West cannot defeat al-Qaeda and militant Islam. The Telegraph quoted
General Richards as saying that defeating Islamist militancy was
"unnecessary and would never be achieved". However, he argued that it could
be "contained" to allow Britons to lead secure lives. He also said that
the threat posed by "al-Qaeda and its affiliates" meant Britain''s national
security would be at risk for at least 30 years, adding that the West''s war
against what he described as a "pernicious ideology" is similar to the fight
against Nazi Germany in the Second World War. "In conventional war,
defeat and victory is very clear cut and is symbolised by troops marching
into another nation''s capital. First of all you have to ask: do we need to
defeat it (Islamist militancy) in the sense of a clear cut victory? I would
argue that it is unnecessary and would never be achieved," the paper quoted
the general, as saying. "But can we contain it to the point that our lives
and our children''s lives are led securely? I think we can," he asked.
He further stated that the real weapon in the war against al-Qaeda was the
use of "upstream prevention" as well as "education and democracy," and added
that the problems that gave rise to militant Islamism were unlikely to be
solved soon. On the issue of future wars, the general said he could see
no case for military intervention in other countries "at the moment" but
added that he would be "barmy to say that one day we wouldn''t be back in
that position," the paper said. He also said that the British military
and the Government had been "guilty of not fully understanding what was at
stake" in Afghanistan and admitted that the Afghan people were beginning to
"tire" of NATO''s inability to deliver on its promises. However, he said
the sacrifice being made by the Armed Forces in Afghanistan, where 343
soldiers have been killed since 2001, "has been worth it". Progress was
being made and NATO was "in the right parish". He said: "Don''t give up
folks, it''s all to play for."http://www.merinews.com/article/west-can-never-defeat-al-qaeda-admits-brit-g
eneral/15835096.shtml
Pak SC makes history: Issues notice to spymasters The Pakistan Supreme Court
made history on Friday by putting on notice the powerful spymasters of Inter
Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence
Bureau (IB) in abduction case of 11 citizens from the Adiala Jail. CJ: Richa
Sinha Sun, Nov 14, 2010 00:05:46 IST Views: 18
Comments: 0 Rate: 1 out of 5 2 out of 5 3 out of 5 4 out of 5 5 out of 5
0.0 / 0 votes THE PAKISTAN Supreme Court made history on Friday by
putting on notice the powerful spymasters of Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI), Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) in abduction
case of 11 citizens from the Adiala Jail, after their court acquittal on
terrorism charges. According to The News, the court's order has been hailed
by families of missing persons, the lawyers'community and others. Prominent
lawyer Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood termed it a bold decision that had set a
new milestone in the court's history, adding, "Well done. It is a giant step
indeed. We must give its credit to the learned court." The Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Chairman IA Rehman however refused to either
appreciate or criticise the bold step. The HRCP chairman, whose organisation
had moved the apex court on forced disappearances in Balochistan, remained
silent when approached for comments. "We don't comment on cases pending in
court," he said. Never in the history of Pakistan, have spy chiefs been
served notices directing them to explain their position on forced
disappearances that have been escalating since the military rule of Gen
Pervez Musharraf, the paper said. In the past two years, around 72 persons
have been allegedly abducted by the intelligence agencies and a majority of
them are from the Punjab, said Amina Masood Janjua, Chairperson Defence of
Human Rights, whose own husband has been missing since 2005 with no clue
about his whereabouts so far. The paper quoted Janjua, as saying that
according to a rough estimate, the figure of missing persons had crossed the
8,000 mark. However, her organisation had registered some 950 people whose
families had approached her. Organisations like the Defence of Human
Rights, Pakistan and Voice of Balochistan Missing Persons have reportedly
compiled separate lists of missing persons, with DHRP has registering 950
missing persons while VBMP has a separate list of 1,200 missing Baloch. The
intelligence agencies have been represented in the past mostly through the
Defence Ministry and whenever their presence was made mandatory in the
court, it was always through mid-ranking officers like Major or Colonel,
said a court reporter covering the proceedings of the missing persons case.
There are numerous examples of abducting people allegedly by agencies under
the garb of terrorism charges with evidence in this respect not produced
before the court of the law. They are instead kept for good or released
shortly before their death, the paper added. In 2007, Amnesty International
had issued a statement saying that it did not know if those subjected to
forced disappearances were guilty or innocent, but it was their fundamental
right to be charged and tried properly in a court of law. By holding people
in secret detention the government of Pakistan had not only violated their
rights but also failed in its duty to charge and try those suspected of
involvement in attacks on civilians, Amnesty had added.http://www.merinews.com/article/pak-sc-makes-history-issues-notice-to-spymas
ters/15835073.shtml
West can't defeat Al-Qaida: UK defence chief NDTV Correspondent, Updated:
November 14, 2010 12:17 IST Ads by Google The Economist Magazine - 12
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London: The newly appointed head of UK's defence forces, General Sir David
Richards, had made some startling confessions on the NATO's war in
Afghanistan that might make the forces in the militancy-hit country rethink
their strategies or at least evoke some strong reactions. Talking to 'The
Sunday Telegraph', General Richards said, "NATO should have a clear idea if
they want a clear cut victory against the militant groups in Afghanistan."
He argues that it is not needed and may never be possible to defeat groups
like Al-Qaida though they can be contained. He goes on to say that such
militant groups would pose a big threat to the UK for at least 30 years.
Before taking over as the Chief of the Defence Staff last month, Gen
Richards was the head of the British Army.http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/the-west-cant-defeat-al-qaida-uk-defence-c
hief-66291
&K: Infiltration bid foiled, two militants killed Press Trust of India,
Updated: November 14, 2010 12:23 IST Ads by Google The Economist Magazine -
12 issues now for Rs. 720/- Special Online Offer, Hurry!
EconomistSubscriptions.com Jammu: Army troops on Sunday foiled an
infiltration bid and shot dead two militants along the Line of Control (LoC)
in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Troops of 5 Maratha Light Infantry
(MLI) found suspicious movement between Anand and Gain forward defence posts
in Sona Gali forest belt of Mankote sub-sector of Poonch district around
0045 hours, a senior Army officer told PTI. During the search of the area,
they found a group of militants crossing into the Indian side and challenged
them, he said, adding that the militants opened heavy fire on the troops,
who retaliated resulting in a fierce gunbattle. * Share this on
Rediff.com Rediff.com * NDTVTwitter * NDTVNDTV Social * Share
with MessengerLive Messenger * NDTVGmail Buzz * NDTVPrint Two
militants were killed in the gunbattle which ended early on Sunday, while
the others managed to escape, the officer said. Bodies of the two ultras
along with their AK rifles were recovered from the spot. "The infiltration
bid has been foiled," he said adding that the troops were alert and vigilant
along the border line in view of the reports that there would be an increase
in infiltration attempts before the snowfall in the mountain ridges.http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/j-k-infiltration-bid-foiled-two-militants-
killed-66254?pfrom=India
Click! 'Presence of US troops upsets Afghans now' November 14, 2010 20:56
IST Tags: Hamid Karzai, United States, The Washington Post, NATO, Gen David
H Petraeus Share this Ask Users Write a Comment Afghan President Hamid
Karzai [ Images ] wants the United States to reduce the visibility and
intensity of its "intrusive" military operations, saying people of the
war-torn nation have lost patience with the presence of American troops in
their homes that could exacerbate Taliban [ Images ] insurgency. "The time
has come to reduce military operations," Karzai said. "The time has come to
reduce the presence of, you know, boots in Afghanistan ... to reduce the
intrusiveness into the daily Afghan life," Karzai told The Washington Post.
"It's not desirable for the Afghan people either to have 100,000 or more
foreign troops going around the country endlessly," he said. Karzai said
the increased US Special Operations forces night raids could aggravate
sufferings of Afghans and exacerbate the Taliban insurgency. He says Afghan
troops are ready to take more responsibility for their own security. He
said foreign troops should limit themselves to necessary operations along
the Pakistani border. His comments placed him at odds with US commander Gen
David H Petraeus, who has made capture-and-kill missions a central component
of his counter-insurgency strategy, and who claims the 30,000 new troops
have made substantial progress in beating back the insurgency, the Post
said. Karzai's comments also came as American officials played down the
importance of July 2011 -- the date US President Barack Obama [ Images ] set
to begin withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan -- in favour of a combat
mission ending in 2014, it said. Karzai said he was speaking out not to
criticise the United States but in the belief that candor could improve what
he called a "grudging" relationship between the countries. The President
said Afghans have lost patience with the presence of American soldiers in
their homes and armoured vehicles on their roads. Karzai has long been
publicly critical of civilian casualties at the hands of US and NATO troops
and has called for curtailing night raids into Afghan homes. But Karzai was
emphatic that US troops must cease such operations, which he said violate
the sanctity of Afghan homes and incite more people to join the insurgency.
"The raids are a problem always. They were a problem then, they are a
problem now. They have to go away," he said. "The Afghan people don't like
these raids, if there is any raid it has to be done by the Afghan government
within the Afghan laws. This is a continuing disagreement between us."
Karzai, who had stated during his inaugural speech last year that he would
like to have full Afghan security control by 2014, said that the US military
"should and could" draw down its forces next year. He said he wanted the US
government to apply more pressure on Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan while
focusing on development projects and civilian assistance in Afghanistan.http://www.rediff.com/news/report/presence-of-us-troops-upsets-afghans-now/2
0101114.htm
Defence stand on compensation may delay Chennai airport expansion Our
Bureau New Delhi, Nov. 14 The proposed modernisation of Chennai airport
could be stuck on the issue of compensation. Sources told Business Line
that the Army is keen that the piece of land being given as compensation be
equal in size and value to what is being surrendered by it for the airport.
"At the moment, the project is not impacted but it could have an adverse
impact unless the land is made available soon," said official sources.
Additional hangars Sources indicated that approximately 20 acres of Defence
land are required to make additional hangars and to increase the operational
efficiency of the airport. Sources indicated that the international
terminal building could face some delay if the defence land is not vacated
soon. The completion of the project will see an increase in the airport
handling capacity in terms of both passengers and aircraft. Aircraft
traffic After modernisation, the airport will be able to handle 40 aircraft
movements an hour, up from the current 30, with the number of aircraft
parking bays going up to 84 from the current 70. Traffic projections for
the airport show that while it handled 1.05 crore passengers in 2009-10,
this figure is expected to touch 1.19 crore in 2011-12 and reach about 1.30
crore the following year. However, according to sources, the cost of the
project has escalated to Rs 2,015 crore from Rs 1,808 crore, mainly because
the cost of the building works had risen to Rs 1,550 crore from the earlier
estimated Rs 1,273 crore. Runway works In comparison, the runway works cost
has come down to Rs 465 crore now from the Rs 535 crore estimated earlier,
sources said. While the modernisation of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and
Bangalore airports is being undertaken by various joint venture companies in
which different private sector companies have a majority stake, the
Government has decided that the modernisation of Chennai and Kolkata
airports will be done by the Airports Authority of India.http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/11/15/stories/2010111551500100.htm
Two militants killed in Poonch 2010-11-14 12:00:00 New Hyundai Verna Offer
Ads by Google Now Pay Less for Hyundai Verna Pay Rs. 9999 instead of Rs.
11462! www.Hyundai.com/Verna -K), Nov 14 (ANI): Two militants have been
killed in the Mendhar area of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, as they
were trying to infiltrate into Indian territory. Senior Army officials said
troops of 5 Maratha Light Infantry (MLI) found suspicious movement between
Anand and Gain forward defence posts in Sona Gali forest belt of Mankote
sub-sector of Poonch district. During a search operation, they found
militants crossing challenged them. The militants opened fire and in the
resulting gunbattle, two militants were killed. The others managed to
escape. (ANI)http://sify.com/news/two-militants-killed-in-poonch-news-national-klomajcaji
d.html
Infiltration bid foiled along LoC in Poonch, 2 militants killed Agencies
Posted online: Sun Nov 14 2010, 09:52 hrs Jammu : Army troops foiled an
infiltration bid on Sunday and shot dead two militants along the Line of
Control (LOC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Troops of 5 Maratha
Light Infantry (MLI) found suspicious movement between Anand and Gain
forward defence posts in Sona Gali forest belt of Mankote sub-sector of
Poonch district around 0045 hours, a senior Army officer said. During the
search of the area, they found a group of militants crossing into the Indian
side and challenged them, he said, adding that the militants opened heavy
fire on the troops, who retaliated resulting in a fierce gunbattle. Two
militants were killed in the gunbattle which ended early on Sunday, while
the others managed to escape, the officier said. Bodies of the two ultras
along with their AK rifles were recovered from the spot. The infiltration
bid has been foiled, he said, adding that the troops were alert and vigilant
along the border line in view of the reports that there would be an increase
in infiltration attempts before the snowfall in the mountain ridges.http://www.indianexpress.com/news/infiltration-bid-foiled-along-loc-in-poonc
h-2-militants-killed/710935/